Part 45

The nest is generally placed on the sea-shore close to high-water mark, little rocky islets just off the shore being very favourite localities. The eggs are four in number and very characteristic of this species, being greenish grey in ground colour, spirally streaked with brown. It is a late breeder, rarely having eggs before the beginning of June.

After the nesting season it at once moves southwards, young being met with on our shores by the middle of August. At this time of year it collects in small parties of from twenty to forty, and where not disturbed they are fairly tame and allow their curious method of feeding to be easily observed.

This bird is very variable in plumage when adult: the head and neck are variegated with black and white; mantle variegated with chestnut and black. Rump and under parts white. Tail brown; breast and shoulders chiefly black. The female resembles the male, but is slightly larger. Most of the chestnut colouring is lost in winter. The young have the upper parts brown, the feathers edged with white. Under parts white. Collar and a patch on each side of the breast dark brown. Length 9 in.; wing 6 in.

THE OYSTER-CATCHER Hæmatopus ostralegus, Linnæus

No one who has been along the shore in winter can have failed to notice the large flocks of black-and-white birds--Sea Pies as they are often called--sitting on a sand-spit and, like Canute of old, defying the tide. There they sit, till, when the water is just about to touch their feathers, they all rise as though with one mind, and shrieking out their shrill call as they go, pass along to the next promontory which will afford them dry foothold for a few minutes longer. Such is the Oyster-Catcher and such his life, restless as the tide itself near which he lives. He is a common and abundant bird throughout the year on all our coasts, feeding more especially on mussels and limpets, which its powerful wedge-shaped bill enables it to detach from the rocks. Other food such as crustacea and marine insects are also eaten. Early in spring the large flocks begin to break up into pairs.

As a rule the nest is on the shingle or the top of a low rock just above high-water mark, but where the rocks are steep and precipitous it is placed on the top of the cliff, many feet above the sea-level. In Scotland they sometimes nest inland along the river banks. The nest is merely a slight depression round which a few snails' shells or stones are laid, and it is to this habit rather than from its food that it owes the name of Oyster-Catcher. The eggs, two or three in number, are pale clay, freckled and spotted with black. Incubation is carried on by the hen, while her mate stands on some point of vantage from where, on the approach of a stranger, he gives vent to his loud and noisy "keep, keep, keep," which is continued until the supposed danger is past. On the first note of alarm the hen leaves her nest and soon joins in the chorus with her mate.

The young when first hatched are dark greyish brown, mottled and striped with black; they are at once taken to the shore and are very carefully watched over by their parents, who, when the tide is out, take them a considerable distance below high-water mark. One brood only is reared in the season, and as soon as the young can fly they begin to gather again into flocks.

The head and neck, scapulars and mantle, lesser wing coverts and tip of the tail are black, the rest of the plumage white. Bill orange vermilion; legs pink. The sexes are alike, and in winter there is a white crescent round the top and front of the neck, and the bill is horn-coloured at the tip. The bill is continually growing and so counteracting the wear and tear to which it is subjected. Length 16 in.; wing 9·75 in.

THE AVOCET Recurvirostra avocetta, Linnæus

If only the amasser of British killed specimens could be exterminated and the protection laws of this country more rigidly enforced, the Avocet might once more become a local breeding species in some of our counties. At present, however, a few birds arrive in our southern and eastern counties yearly, and it is to be feared that but few live to cross over to their breeding grounds in Holland. It used formerly to breed in considerable numbers in the marshes of Kent and Sussex, and along our flat eastern shores, but on the west and in the north it has never been more than an extremely rare and local visitor. The nest is placed on the mud or sand in an estuary, and at no great distance from the water, and consists merely of a very small collection of dry bents and grass. The eggs are three to four in number and pale clay in colour, speckled with black. The note is a clear "kluit," generally uttered on the wing, and when disturbed these birds are very noisy. Their food consists of small insects and crustacea, which are captured by a sideways motion of its curiously shaped bill. It almost always feeds in shallow water, and when feeding walks along, slowly moving the bill from side to side on the surface of the mud. It usually flies high, and from its coloration and long neck is not unlike a Sheld-Duck when at a distance, but its clear and loud "kluit, kluit," soon betrays its identity.

The sexes are alike; the head and back of the neck, scapulars, median and tertiary wing coverts and some of the primaries black. Rest of the plumage white. Bill black; legs pale blue. In the young the black portions are brownish. Length 10 in.; bill 3·2 in.; wing 8·5 in.

THE BLACK-WINGED STILT Himantopus candidus, Bonnaterre

This species is only a very scarce straggler to our shores, generally during the summer months. Its chief breeding grounds are along the shores of the Danube and Black Sea, and in the marismas of Southern Spain, whence it migrates to Africa in winter.

In the adult the mantle and wings are greenish black; tail grey; the rest of the plumage white. Bill black, and the long legs rose pink. Length 13·6 in.; bill 2·5 in.; wing 9·5 in.; legs 10 in.

GREY PHALAROPE Phalaropus fulicarius (Linnæus)

This species only appears as an irregular autumnal visitor on our south-eastern and southern shores, though it has been obtained both in Scotland and Ireland. In food and habits it resembles the Red-necked Phalarope, but its breeding range is more northerly, and is in fact circumpolar. It is extremely tame, and allows a close approach as it swims in shallow sheltered places a few feet from the margin of the shore, beach pools, or inland ponds, where it happens to be.

Its visits to this country are almost always in autumn, when it is in the grey plumage, which is grey on the back and white beneath, with a white forehead and a black streak running backwards through the eye. Bill black. The sexes are alike and the young similar but buffish on the chest.

A few solitary examples are sometimes seen in nuptial dress during the spring or very early autumn. In this plumage the head and back are black, with rufous margins to the feathers; cheeks white; under parts chestnut. Bill yellow. The male is rather duller in plumage than the female. Length 8·25 in.; wing 4·9 in.

THE RED-NECKED PHALAROPE Phalaropus hyperboreus (Linnæus)

The Phalaropes are delightful little birds of very aquatic habits, and form a splendid instance of how similar environment tends to the production of similar structure. They may be easily recognised from other limicoline or wading birds by their very close feathering, especially on the breast, and their lobed feet, while in the Grey Phalarope, especially, the bill is somewhat flattened, so that in these birds we find a tendency towards the flattened bill as in Ducks, lobed feet as in the Grebes, and the peculiar thick feathers on the breast characteristic of Petrels and Gulls. The Phalaropes have also another peculiarity unique among British birds, although shared by several other groups in different parts of the world, namely that the duties of incubation and rearing of the young are conducted entirely by the male bird, and in correlation with this habit the female does all the courting and is brighter in plumage.

One or two spots in Scotland and Ireland are the only remaining places in our islands where this delightful bird may be found nesting, and as an autumn and winter visitor it is decidedly rarer than the preceding species, and very seldom found inland during the winter months. When visiting us it will usually be seen swimming in some sheltered tidal pool or in one of the ditches of the marsh, close to the sea-wall. Its food consists of small insects and crustacea. At its breeding haunts it is extremely tame, running about within a few feet of the intruder.

Its summer home is usually on some inland bog, and the nest is placed on a small tussock in a very wet place, often entirely surrounded by water. The eggs are four in number, very pyriform in shape, and large for the size of the bird, but owing to the nest being a deep cup, the surface of the eggs that has to be actually covered by the bird is comparatively small.

In colour they are pale olive very thickly spotted and streaked with black. The male undertakes all the duties connected with the young, the female taking no notice of the nest after the laying of the last egg. Frequently the female at the beginning of the breeding season is accompanied by more than one male, so that it is probable that polyandry exists in this group, as it has already been proved to do in other cases where the courting is undertaken by the female.

The call-note is a low "wit, wit, wit." In summer the head, neck, and shoulders are lead grey, the back and wings darker, with a mixture of pale rufous. A bar across the wings white. Sides and front of the neck chestnut; breast lead grey; chin and rest of under parts white. The male is rather duller than the female. In winter the forehead crown, and under parts are white, feathers of the back grey, with white margins. The young have rufous margins to the feathers of the back, but otherwise resemble their parents in winter dress. Length 7·5 in.; wing 4·4 in.

THE WOODCOCK Scolopax rusticula, Linnæus

The Woodcock is best known in these islands from the vast numbers that annually arrive during October to pass the winter with us. Although fairly well distributed at this time of year, they are most abundant in Ireland and our western counties, where they form one of the chief objectives of the shooter.

As its name indicates, the Woodcock spends most of its time in woods and plantations, flying every evening to wet meadows and marshes in the neighbourhood, where it feeds on worms and other insects, and returning to the woods before daybreak. On its passage to and from its feeding ground it always follows certain tracks, which are in consequence often known as "cock-roads." Early in March the vast majority take their departure for their breeding grounds in Northern Europe, but some remain to nest with us, and of late years its numbers as a breeding species have considerably increased.

The nest is a slight depression among dead leaves, generally at the foot of a tree. The eggs are four in number and yellowish white in colour, blotched with ash grey and reddish brown. When the young are hatched they are sometimes removed by the parents, the female being said to carry them by holding them pressed closely to her body between her legs. In common with all Snipe, the eye is placed far back on the head, and it has recently been shown that the external aperture of the ear is placed forwards in front of and below the eye.